Life is precious. Every breath we take is a gift from God. How fitting then, that both the Greek and Hebrew words for spirit mean wind or breath. When God created Adam and Eve, He breathed life into them. In the moment of birth, the rest of mankind received the breath of God. No one is alive today unless God gives them each breath. This is the basis for Paul’s third analogy for our relationship with the Holy Spirit.

In Galatians 5:25, Paul says…

“If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.”

To live is to be alive. When we are alive, our hearts beat, and we breathe. Life is breath by breath and beat by beat. While the basic meaning of life has application by itself, Paul intended much more here. To live also includes the idea of how we live our lives. When we consider how we live our lives, we begin to understand the importance of living by the power and guidance of the Spirit. We need Him for every breath we take, and we need Him to empower us to live life to the fullest in a way that pleases God. We cannot do it without Him.

When I think of what it means to live by the Spirit, it also reminds me of Acts 17:28, where Paul says to the Greek philosophers, speaking of God…

“He is not far from each one of us; for in Him we live and move and exist.”

When we live by the Spirit, we recognize that God is closer to us than our very breath. He is everywhere around us and the Spirit of God, the is within us.

Several years back, Mars Hills Bible Church produced a series of short videos with powerful messages. One of the videos was called, “Breathe.” It talks about the name of God, YAHWEH. In Hebrew tradition, the name of God was considered sacred. When one of the scribes wrote the name YAHWEH on a scroll, it was so sacred that he would throw away the pen after the name was written.

“Breathe” goes on to say that we all have the image of YAHWEH is in us. In addition, for those who have put their faith in Jesus, the Spirit of YAHWEH lives in us, moving us to breathe in and breathe out the very name of God.

The name YAHWEH has four Hebrew letters in it: YOD, HEY, VUV, and HEH. And when we breathe it is as if we breathe in and out the very name of God. YOD – HEH – VUV – HEH, YOD – HEH – VUV – HEH, YOD – HEH – VUV – HEH.

Living in the Spirit puts us in beautiful, intimate relationship with the Almighty God. It is moment by moment. When we stop breathing, we cease to live. In the same way, when we stop living in the Spirit, we cease to live. Life in the Spirit is more than just an occasional time of checking back in with God. In fact, it goes beyond daily to moment by moment. Every time we take a breath, we have the opportunity to live by the power of the Spirit.

So, precisely how do we live by the Spirit? It is a conundrum. It is a concept that can only be revealed and taught by the Spirit of God. Human thinking would advise us to get to work on living in the Spirit. In the kingdom it is just the opposite, the only way to live by the spirit is to die to ourselves.

Galatians 5:24 says…

“Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.”

According to the Bible, the work has already been done. Jesus died on the cross to redeem us. When we believe in Jesus, we no longer belong to ourselves. We have been bought with the price of His blood. We belong to Him. And as those who belong to Jesus, we have already crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. The work of Jesus has freed us from the control and reign of the flesh in our lives.

A work has been done, and yet there is still work for us to do. The work of Jesus freed us from the rule of the flesh, and the words of Jesus guide us down a path of complete surrender. In order to accomplish what He needed to do on our behalf, Jesus had to go to Gethsemane and to Golgotha. In order to reach a place of complete surrender, we must follow Him to both places. His journey defines for us what it means to “take up your cross daily.”

It was in the garden of Gethsemane, that Jesus decided to take up His cross. Then, at Golgotha, the place of the skull where Jesus was crucified, He laid down His life. The progression of words spoken by Jesus guides us to the complete surrender that is necessary to die to ourselves. Dying to ourselves is necessary to live in the Spirit.

Matthew 26:39 records what Jesus spoke at Gethsemane…

"And He went a little beyond them, and fell on His face and prayed, saying, 'My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as You will.'"

It was here that Jesus did battle with His own will. He knew the anguish of suffering and death that He was about to face. Humanly He did not want to go through with it. So, He asked the Father if it was possible to avoid the suffering. The passage says that He sweat drops of blood, an agonizing result of mental anguish. But in the end, through the struggle, after going back three times, He finally surrendered His will. He said to the Father, “Not as I will, but as You will.”

Our starting place for taking up our cross is the surrender of our will. The will covers a broad range of meanings from intending to do something to the act of doing it. The meaning includes our wishes and desires, as well as, the things that give us delight or pleasure. Simply put, to surrender of our wills is to give up any right we have to impact our decision-making in any way. As with this entire process, we cannot do this on our own. The Spirit of God must guide us to a point when we can speak the words, “Father, not my will, but your will be done.”

Jesus speaks His next words of surrender on the cross, as recorded in Luke 23:34…

"Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing."

As Jesus was being crucified, He asked the Father to forgive the men who had put Him on the cross with a sentence of excruciating death. The next step of taking up our cross daily is to release any unforgiveness and completely relinquish our right to revenge. Unless we reach a place of complete forgiveness, we cannot experience the fullness of the kingdom of heaven. Again, this kind of forgiveness is not humanly possible. It is an act of the Spirit of God in us. He must guide us down this path.

Jesus speaks again, in Matthew 26:46…

"About the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, 'ELI, ELI, LAMA SABACHTHANI?' that is, 'MY GOD, MY GOD, WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN ME?'"

When Jesus hung on the cross, God placed the sin of all mankind upon Him. Up until this point, Jesus was entirely sinless and in perfect relationship with the Father. But in that moment on the cross, with our sin placed upon Him, God turned the other way. The pain of the Father’s rejection was far worse than the beatings and crown of thorns. It was the first time Jesus fully understood the impact of sin on those who would follow Him.

In order to fully die to ourselves, we must fully understand the cause of our death. Sin separates from God. And in order to finally overcome sin, we must understand the impact of sin in our lives. We have an opportunity to be in beautiful, intimate relationship with God every moment of every day of our lives. And when we experience Him, it truly fills our souls. But the moment we sin, we break that relationship and we deeply grieve the Holy Spirit who lives in us. Only the Spirit can open our eyes to see how deeply we grieve God when we sin and how awful it is to be out of relationship with Him.

Next, Jesus speaks in John 19:28…

"After this, Jesus, knowing that all things had already been accomplished, to fulfill the Scripture, said, 'I am thirsty.'"

Knowing the effects of dehydration that are common in crucifixion, Jesus spoke of His physical thirst. But knowing the gravity of sin and separation from the Father, Jesus likely also spoke of His thirst for God. He felt the deep emptiness inside of Himself. He longed for the Father that was with Him for all eternity. He felt the void inside that only the Father could fill. He thirsted.

As part of taking up our cross daily, we must recognize our utter dependence on God. Beyond recognition, we must feel and express our desperate need for Him. Without Him there is nothing but emptiness. There is no meaning. There is no life. There is nothing but meaningless wanderings and never knowing. Only the Spirit can guide us to experience the depth of our need for God.

John 19:30 records some of the most famous words of Jesus…

"Jesus said, 'It is finished'"

Jesus declared that His work on the cross was finished. It was done. It was completed. The price for sin had been paid. The enemy and the world system had been defeated. The lives of those who would follow Him were redeemed in that moment. Death had arrived.

One of the most important aspects of taking up our cross is seeing it through to the end. All too often, the followers of Christ, start down this path of surrender, but never complete the task. They do not stick with the process of surrender until the death of self arrives. They get up all too soon. Only the Spirit of God can take us through the weeks or months or years of surrender to come to the end of self. We must not give up. We must let the Spirit carry this process through to the end, until He gives us the words, “It is finished.”

Jesus says His final words in Luke 23:46…

"And Jesus, crying out with a loud voice, said, Father,'INTO YOUR HANDS I COMMIT MY SPIRIT.' Having said this, He breathed His last.'"

Before Jesus took His last breath of life, He committed His spirit into the hands of God. Remember, Jesus came to earth as one-hundred percent man and one-hundred percent God. When He spoke these words, He was speaking of His human spirit. This was the final surrender. God had breathed life into His human body, and in the end, Jesus breathed His last breath and committed His spirit back to God. He was now one-hundred percent God’s. This is complete surrender in death.

When we take up our cross, it always ends in the death of self. The only thing left is our spirit. When we commit our spirit to God, we are ready to live in the Spirit. This process of taking up our cross may be lived out over an extended period of time. It may take months or years of abiding her to come to the end of ourselves. But if we see it through to the end, it will culminate in life. If we allow the Spirit to guide us, He will lead us to the finish line.

Finally, when we reach a point of surrender, we are ready for a daily surrender that keeps us living for God in the kingdom. Then, we will live by the Spirit, moment by moment, breath by breath.

WORSHIP: Worship Jesus for what He did for you on the cross. Take time to reflect on His life and His death. Spend time thanking Him. Then spend time adoring Him for His great work in redeeming you. Worship His as the one to whom you belong.

PRACTICE: Work your way through each of the steps of taking up your cross. For each step, ask the Holy Spirit to be your guide. Ask Him to reveal specific areas where you need more complete surrender. Write down anything He reveals to you or anything that happens to come into your mind. Keep some room around this area so you can continue to add to it. When you are done, ask the Spirit to bring you to complete surrender in all these areas.

MEDITATION: Like yesterday, your starting place for being led by the Spirit is not in the mind. This concept is easy to understand. Your battle ground in in your heart. Do you believe it? It is okay if you do not fully believe it at this point. As you meditate on living in the Spirit, ask God to help your unbelief, to give you a gift of faith to get this forever settled. You may or may not resolve this today, but this is a good starting place. Continue to work this through until you believe in the power of the Spirit to produce amazing fruit in you. You will know, because you will experience the fruit, all of it.

ABIDING: By this time, it is very possible that the Father, your Spiritual Director, has led you to a place in Scripture where He wants you to abide. As you go back and read through this teaching one more time, ask the Father if there is anything in these passages specifically for you. Look for the things that reinforce what God is teaching you at this time. Write down anything you hear from Him. Spend some extra time listening to see if the Spirit has anything more to say to you or if there is a deeper teaching for you today. Write down whatever you hear. Ask the Father if there is someone, He wants you to share this with and follow through with His assignment.